The Scripture passages for today aren't just about money, but about the proper attitude toward money. One of the investments our entrepreneurial God makes in us is money. Whether it's earned or inherited, much or little, like everything else, our money ultimately belongs to God.

In the parable, Jesus pictures a rich man who finds his whole comfort and purpose in money. He has more than he can use and even more than he can handle. To accommodate his bourgeoning crops, he has to build more and more storage barns. But the secret to the man's attitude toward his possessions is his smug self-assurance. "I'm all set," he thinks. "With my barns full to overflowing, all I have to do is sit back and enjoy life."

But he's not all set. All that he has accumulated means nothing in the moment of his death. Then the question is not "How much do I have?" but "What did I do with it?" This rich farmer, who seems to have it all, ends up the biggest fool. While he accumulated a huge net worth, the ultimate value of his life was worthless. "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God," Jesus says. In a way the farmer is like the servant with the single bag of gold from the last session. By building bigger barns to accumulate his wealth, he had simply buried it.

What does it mean to be "rich toward God"? In this context it means that we take the gift of wealth God has entrusted to us and make it count for his kingdom.

Paul explains this further in his letter to the Corinthian believers. Paul had been working for a long time to raise money for the suffering brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, and he's giving the Corinthians an opportunity to be part of it. He's not asking them to impoverish themselves for others (2 Cor. 8:13) but to discover the joy of sharing and giving. He doesn't want to shame them into giving, or compel them. He wants them to give from the heart with joy and thanksgiving to God, for "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7).

While Jesus considers giving as an investment in the kingdom that results in the giver becoming "rich toward God," Paul sees it as sowing. The more you sow, the more you reap. Does that mean that for every gift we offer, God will pay us back over and above? No. Paul promises God's abundant blessing to those who give: "Having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8).

In other words, giving carries its own reward. It frees us from the foolishness of greed and the cult of consumption by immersing us in the liberating, joyous life of God's kingdom. God, who "has it all," generously and lavishly shares his wealth with us, and has even given us the perfect gift of salvation in Christ. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). When we generously give toward God's kingdom, we will discover the joy at the heart of the universe, the cheerfulness of loving generosity.